FAMTactics Consider The Cost of PPI and Porsche Modifications
A Pre-purchase Inspection (PPI) can make or break a sale – if you spend money on Porsche modifications before a PPI, you want to be sure that your vehicle will pass the inspection. Here at Foreign Affairs Motorsports we know how to value a vehicle, including both a classic or current Porsche. Modifications such as replacement of original factory parts can sometimes depreciate the value of the vehicle. Bad paint jobs after car accidents or quick fixes on bumper dents can also jeopardize whether or not your vehicle passes the PPI. Bobby Varela talks about the dos and don’ts in the latest FAMTactics video.
BOBBY VARELA: Good morning I’m Bobby Varela with Foreign Affairs Motorsport and welcome to another installment of FAMTactics. Today we’re going to talk about pre-purchase inspections. Really important especially with buying a pre-owned vehicle. Here today we have represented a 2008 GT2. This vehicle unfortunately didn’t pass the PPI very well. The vehicle has been in an accident and has paint all in different spots. So, if we go around the car to take a look I’m going to show you what one of the tools that we use which is the paint meter check.
We apply this to one of the metal sections, and you will see we will get a reading on there – you got an 8.5. Most of the readings that we see factory paint is usually between 5.5 to 7.5 mils – which means that the thickness of the paint in between your paint meter and the metal. Now you will notice we go to plastic bumpers we get no reading, it doesn’t read plastic. So, in any event I’m going to take you towards the back I’m going to show you the section that have been painted and see if we can see some of the paint lines.
Alright so, I’m going to meter the roof. We get a 5, ok, that’s normal. Come to the rail – 13 – that’s not normal. Quarter, 9, 8, 6.5. So, we definitely know that this quarter has been repainted based on the levels that we get with our paint meter and when we look inside on the door seam we can see a paint line and feel it.
The importance of pre-purchase inspections or PPI’s are very crucial because it’s your money and it’s and it’s an investment in most cases. Porsche is very popular nowadays, classic and current. This particular car, again 2008 GT2 with low miles, in most cases if it were a Hagerty’s ten-point car it would be worth close to $300,000. In this instance this car is probably worth just shy of $200, 000 because it has paint work.
I don’t know if it has a Carfax, I didn’t look that up, that’s one of the other areas that we would look at to try and find some information. They’re not always correct but they do give us a bird’s eye sometimes of: how the vehicle was maintained, and how many times it was registered, and if there were any accidents (and they were reported) how many and what the severity was.
What’s important too about special Porsche models is there are certain parts that are different from the regular model. So, for instance a 997 twin turbo does not have a carbon fiber intake box but the GT2 does. So, these are important pieces and parts that all help make the value of the vehicle what it’s worth. You know if this car were heavily modified, it would hurt the value. The true Porsche or classic European car enthusiast wants the car and its original shape and form that the factory built it in because that’s where it holds most of its value. Thank you.